she had spent more than half the day in sensual pursuits, and she would be spending much of the night engrossed in these studies, too. Casnar went to seek out his mistress, and report to her on the girl’s progress.
“Does she take to training?” Lady Farah asked the sex slave.
“Very well considering she was only recently a virgin,” he replied. “Of course, we have concentrated on the most pleasurable facets of pleasures so far. May I ask if the Lord High Ruler enjoys giving and receiving pain in varying degrees?”
“Perhaps a little, like all men,” Lady Farah said slowly. “I have never asked it of him, but Vilia never said anything, nor have any of the Pleasure Women registered a complaint against him for undue cruelty. And to my knowledge he has never visited any of the Pleasure Houses catering to those tastes. Still, his wife should know a little about such things. Spanking, of course, and he has already done that. She was indignant but did not hold it against him. I would suggest chaining her, using a blindfold, the tawse and a dog whip applied very lightly. Make certain she understands obedience, and will obey without question. If Jonah does anything other than spank her I should be surprised, but at least Zagiri should know there are greater consequences for disobedience. You will not, of course, have time to introduce her to toys, but see she is conversant with them all. I will help her to pick those she thinks will please him.”
“I shall do everything as you command, mistress,” Casnar replied.
“Has Doran had her? Was she able to take that wonderful cock of his?”
“She has been made familiar with it, aye, mistress. As a matter of fact, she took both of us at the same time. He had her female passage, and I the other,” Casnar said.
Lady Farah sighed regretfully. “What a shame my son is so enamored of her. If she were just an ordinary girl I would make her a Pleasure Woman. A female who can take both your cock and Doran’s at the same time would bring me a fortune. Be careful you do not stretch her so she cannot give her husband the pleasures he deserves.”
“Yes, mistress. We were careful, and her passage seems to restore itself quite nicely. The Lord High Ruler will have no complaints.”
“Excellent,” Lady Farah said. Then she dismissed him, telling him to send Doran to her. She had done nothing all day but think of the sex slave who had belonged to her late daughter-in-law, Vilia. He was quite a perfect creature. Vigorous. Creative. And able to plow her without ceasing.
Lady Farah smiled to herself. Her life, for all the trouble Hetar was now facing, had taken on a rosy glow. They had stolen the Terahn princess for her son to wed, which would surely force the faerie woman, Lara, into being their ally. And the prestige the girl would bring to Hetar would certainly quiet these unpleasant rumors of a Hierarch. And she had found a lover without par, who, if she could convince the Lord High Ruler to sell Doran to her, would bring her a fortune. She had already sent to Squire Darah requesting he seek out healthy young women in his Midlands Province so she might begin her breeding program. Aye, life was very good for the Head Mistress of the Pleasure Guild these days. Very good indeed.
6
LARA RETURNED FROM THE New Outlands to be greeted by her twins. She had been gone for eight days now. Coupled with her sojourn at the Oasis of Zeroun she felt more rested than she had in several months. Anoush had told her mother as they traveled to the New Outlands that she did not want to return to Terah to live.
“I am Fiacre, Mother. I am Vartan’s daughter, and I am happiest with my clan family. I want to remain with them. I will come and visit you, and you will come to see me, but I will not make the castle my home any longer. I had spoken to my stepfather before his death on this matter, and he said I must be where I was happiest,” Anoush said.
Lara sighed but she had known this moment was coming. “I will have a house built for you,” she told her eldest daughter. “Until it is constructed you will live with Liam and Noss.”
“Aye, I should like my own home,” Anoush responded. “It will make me a good marriage prospect despite my un-Fiacre talents.” Then she laughed softly. “But most of my clan folk are now used to me.”
“You wish to wed?”
“When I find a man whom I can love, aye, Mother. And I want children, too,” Anoush surprised her mother by saying. “Despite my talents I am really just a clanswoman.”
“I will see you have livestock and grazing land,” Lara told her eldest daughter.
“Thank you,” Anoush replied.
And so Lara had made the necessary arrangements for her child’s comfort. Vartan’s daughter would rejoin her father’s clan family. She would be a young woman of property, and even before Lara had departed the New Outlands young men were beginning to visit Liam’s hall. Mildri, Liam and Noss’s young daughter, knew all the gossip, and happily expounded to Anoush what she knew of the young men.
Lara could see how happy and relaxed her daughter was to be among her father’s people again. She saw how eagerly they welcomed Anoush, and realized that, as Anoush had assured her, they were used to the girl’s talents now. And, too, Anoush was not faerie as her mother had been. They saw her first as Vartan’s daughter, and that was good enough for the clan folk of the Fiacre. She left Anoush filled with a mixture of both happiness and sadness. She had but three children left.
But now as she hugged Taj and Marzina her eyes were sweeping the room looking about for Zagiri. “Where is your sister?” she asked her twins.
“She is still at Grandmother’s house,” Taj told his mother.
“And she is not yet back?” That was strange. While Lady Persis adored Zagiri, the girl did not usually remain with her grandmother more than three days when she visited. “Zagiri does not usually stay that long.”
“I think she was just avoiding her lessons,” Taj replied. “Marzina and I have studied hard in your absence, Mother. And we have not fought once! My twin is most respectful of my position and my high office.”
“Your twin is clever and wise,” Lara said dryly. Then she called a servant to her. “Send a messenger to Lady Persis’s home saying I have returned and would like Zagiri to come home immediately,” she instructed the servant.
“Yes, Domina,” the servant replied, and bowed himself from the chamber.
An uneasiness overcame Lara. It was very unlike Zagiri to stay so long at her grandmother’s house. But perhaps Persis had attempted to put forth a candidate for Zagiri’s hand in marriage. Perhaps she had invited him to visit while Zagiri was with her and Zagiri actually liked her grandmother’s choice, and remained. Could it actually be that simple?
An hour later the servant returned. “Domina, the messenger has returned. Lady Persis says she has not seen Princess Zagiri in many days.”
Lara had no sooner heard the words he spoke than in a puff of lavender smoke she disappeared from the servant’s sight. Reappearing in her mother-in-law’s hall, she found Lady Persis actually expecting her.
“What is this all about?” the older woman queried Lara.
“I took Anoush to the New Outlands,” Lara said. “Zagiri said she wanted to come and visit you while I was away. I gave her my permission. I just returned this afternoon. I was gone eight days. You have not seen her in that time?”
Lady Persis shook her head. “Nay, I have not. What can have happened to my darling golden girl? Did she ride?”
“Nay, Marzina says she said she would walk because the weather was fair, and the distance short,” Lara said.
“Could she have fallen from the cliffs?” Lady Persis quavered.
“I will send searchers, but Zagiri was like a mountain goat on the fjord paths,” Lara replied. “I do not believe she would have fallen, but we will look.” Then in another puff of smoke she was gone from Lady Persis’s hall.
It was but two miles between the castle and Lady Persis’s home. The cliffs were searched for the remainder of the daylight. Two of the Forest Giants helped, walking in the fjord and searching the cliffsides carefully, but no trace
